Reddit Reefer Speaks about how marijuana changed your life!
For many, cannabis is a wonderful plant that has helped them through some difficult times. For others, it can be a scourge. I have written on the latter lately addressing the issues with people who use cannabis as a crutch forever.
At the end of the day, cannabis won’t “save you”. However, like a crutch, it helps you regain strength, provides support and can help you get to a place where you can be truly “healthy”. I personally believe that we should be taking cannabinoid “supplements” every day, the same way you take vitamins. If you’re not smoking weed, you should be eating it in your salads or throw a bit of oil on your food.
This is because at the age 25, your endocannabinoid production tanks significantly. While exercise and diet can help stimulate endocannabinoid production, having some external help can be a real game changer.
Nonetheless, this is but one of the reasons why I believe cannabis is helping folk on a physiological aspect – something that won’t be mentioned in the following article by the Reddit users. However, it’s an important point to me.
Oh – how did cannabis change my life?
Well, I smoked since I was young, but to be honest – cannabis has paid my rent, helped me through dark times, been a friend, a good listener, a source of inspiration, and helped me become more tolerant to other people’s bullshit.
I could go on, but this one isn’t about me.
What Redditors have to say!
Odizz, is the Redditor who sparked up the conversation “How marijuana changed your life” and in his piss poor English wrote;
I was a super extrovert trying to be cool and funny infront of everyone till 2020. I had no respect and dignity in my circle. I always tried to please everyone but in real i was the unhappiest person. But in first lock down in 2020, i got the weed somehow. I don't know how i got influenced. But after that, i found the real happiness. Weed made me realise that i can be happier in my own space. I don't need anyone. It made hate participate in the society. I stated gaining knowledge in my personal space alone and unreachable for anyone. I changed my whole contact ids. No one can reach me now. I am far away from shit society. Yes weed is knowledge. It can open your hidden intellectuality. I'm very very thank ful to marijuana for saving my life
Now I understand that this was a Reddit post and wasn’t meant to be written about in an article like mine, but hey – if you’re going to be posting shit online I might very well think it’s relevant to put into an article. So maybe, just maybe – Get Grammarly and make sure you’re writing is on point.
But I digress, Odizz has a point. Cannabis helped him be okay with himself. It broke the Internal Automation that was running his life. You see, most people are completely unaware of their own actions. They simply react to situations and never truly reflect on their actions. This is being subjected to the automation.
I have long held the belief that cannabis is a disruptor of these processes, allowing you to see a bit of yourself from a different perspective. This difference in perspective gives space for self-reflection which leads to self-correction.
I’m glad for one that Odizz learned to chill with himself, because another obnoxious dude jumping on tables screaming “I’m Pickle Rick” is not what the world needs right now!
It made me more present…
Redditor “unlearner383” said;
It made me optimistic. Showed me the bright side of every situation. When I'm high, it feels like meditation without effort. I'm more present and love life.
It feels like meditation without the effort…well, I hate to break it to you but meditation is effortless. If effort is involved, you’re not doing it right.
I’m just kidding, I know exactly what unlearner is talking about. It’s not “easy” to do nothing for a prolonged period. Most people’s minds are looking for anything to distract them from the locked moment of “right now” and so we’re consuming everything we can. It’s the reason why people are glued to their phones 24/7
Cannabis has the ability to shift you into a state of optimism. It helps you look for the shimmering light at the end of the tunnel, and while I wouldn’t equate it as “meditation”, it does have an effect on bringing your awareness into the present moment. However, here you’ll want to also practice mindfulness and presence without cannabis.
I use it for everything!
Redditor “The Lost Nug” said;
For me personally I use it in many circumstances. Sad? Smoke. Happy? Let’s celebrate and smoke. Have anxiety? Take a bong rip before heading to school. Lonely? There’s nothing I can really do about that but there’s weed and weed won’t let me keep one train of thought for longer than a minute so it’s hard to be depressed about it. Want to enjoy music more? Smoke. Want to write some poetry? Smoke. Want to smoke? Smoke. Want to ease muscle pain in workouts? Do military presses with a joint in your mouth, inhale when you lift up, exhale through your nose when let it down to your chest, repeat until you feel like you’re about to pass out. By the end of it your high will be 2x better.
So yeah it’s changed my life and it’s kind of a blessing and a curse
Some people depend too much on weed. There’s a time and place and it seems that this person is using cannabis more as a crutch. Although, the psychonaut in me is definitely interested in that military press exercise he was talking about.
While it’s true that you can use cannabis for virtually anything to get you into the “zone”, the fact of the matter is that when you depend on it in such a manner, you’re eventually going to smoke yourself into a corner.
Cannabis is an aide, not the way. It’s not meant to be the “everything” to all your problems.
Helped me get fit!
ajbXwarrior01 said;
Helped me loose weight, was running for a bit then started running high. Allowed me to just zone out and push my self harder by not realizing I was getting tired. I also found it hard to keep a constant pace, so I ended up running faster than intended.
And TirayShell responded,
Its ability to dilate your capillaries, including those in your lungs (why you get red eyes) makes it a very surprising performance enhancer. Better lung capacity, and lower pain. That's a recipe for being Superman.
Interestingly, cannabis users have a lower Body Mass Index than non-smokers and this is because many cannabis users like to get high when working out. Perhaps it’s because of the reason TirayShell mentioned, but then again…maybe it’s just the weed.
The fact of the matter is that cannabis can help get you into the zone rather quickly.
Made me be more social!
SluttyTRex1 said,
I didn't leave my house for straight up 4 years except for school. Social anxiety/depression had basically destroyed me, started smoking weed properly when I was 17 (originally dabbled with it when I was like 13) but knew it made me feel happy.
After a few weeks of smoking with a friend or 2 I started meeting new people and just getting more confident while dealing with all my mental issues instead of just ignoring them with video games.
I am now 23 and could never imagine being like that again I love going out and just meeting new people and learning about them and trying new hobbies and shit.
Cannabis can definitely be social lubricant much like alcohol, however, unlike alcohol your level of belligerence is greatly diminished. In this case, the Redditor with the sexy user name used it to transmute his fear of social interactions and disrupted the emotional field associated with the construct.
Now, unhindered by the psychological burden of meeting new people, he/she is able to enjoy life without that crippling mental chain.
Got me out of my traumas
CitzenofKha said;
Made me fat lol Even if it’s sadly a truth weed helped me to remember my childhood trauma which gave me a PTSD and changed my personality. I found myself again and it’s still a process. I accepted myself and feel more love towards myself. It taught me empathy I didn’t really have before living in a survival mode for almost 30 years. I don’t need to protect myself anymore, cuz I’m in a safe place with people who love me. And I learned to accept their love. I look at my life in a more holistic way even if I still get stuck in my past.
One thing cannabis is exceptionally good at is disrupting negative feedback loops. PTSD is a mental loop where trauma captures you in a never ending cycle of perpetual terror. Your past trauma gets replayed and it becomes worse over time.
Cannabis creates a bit of space between you and your thought and as a result allows you to make peace with a lot of the past. In this person’s life, cannabis helped him become more compassionate towards his/her own traumas and as a result, now has a more wholesome experience of life.
Destroyed my self hate
MMoririghan said,
My anxiety was so bad. I was constantly afraid of doing the wrong thing. My inner monologue was just pure self hate. I avoided drugs until I was almost 18 but the first time I smoked I felt like this huge weight came off. That voice of self hate went away and I could focus on what was in front of me without falling into how I would mess it up. It also helped greatly with my insomnia and eliminated PTSD nightmares. As an adult I got into the legal industry and worked my way up to GM of a shop, got my medical certification so I could help people get their medical cards. I stepped back from that job but still work in cannabis industry and smoke several times a day including right before bed.
We all have an internal dialogue…you know, the voice that’s probably souuundiiinggg ooouuuttt theeeeessee woooorrrdddsss..right now. Depending on your baseline “internal tone”, your life could either be generally okay or a living hell.
Some people’s internal dialogue is full of criticism, self-loathing, jealousy, belittlement, etc. These people are literally their own worst critic. The most atrocious thing of all is that the voice that is masquerading as their own is in fact other people’s voices pretending to be them.
It’s their mothers, fathers, teachers, friends, and every other individual that brutalized their ego with their critiques, unrealistic expectations, over-protective natures, etc. The problem is that it happens on automatic, and their don’t have time to rationalize or even take a mindful action towards correcting their behavior.
They are subjected to their own internal automation, powerless to do anything about it. However, cannabis is a disruptor of this process. By flooding the system with THC and creating an organic reaction of euphoria to the negative emotional expression – the feedback loop gets disrupted and allows the individual a moment of freedom from the internal torment.
Now, without the relentless internal critique, they can have the space to make meaningful changes in their life that will serve their greater wellness.
If any of this resonated with you…there are ways to silence the internal voices of critique and reintegrate them into your being. If you need any help with this feel free to reach out. Perhaps a few transpersonal techniques can help you move towards a more resourceful state. And you know I smoke weed, so that won’t be a problem either.
Weed helps everyone differently!
VoidVine made a good point;
It's interesting how weed affects different people in different ways. Extroverts shift towards introverts like in OP's case, but the opposite also happens. It's like weed helps everyone to find what they really need right now to be whole and happy. It restores the balance in the brain and the body.
I usually only post and comment when high, so I guess I become more extroverted lol But yeah, overall weed saved my life in so many ways. And it continues to do so.
Since the endocannabinoid system is responsible for a wide range of core functions of the human experience, including mood regulation, appetite regulation, immune response, reproduction, and much more…and that the main function of the ECS is to maintain homeostasis in the body – it makes sense that it’s a versatile medicine.
We like to think of medicine as a biological process, where we treat the body to heal the disease…but human beings are multi-dimensional in nature. We don’t merely exist as biological entities, we also express ourselves within a mental and spiritual space.
This means that treating an illness on one plane of existence will never truly “heal” the person but will always only treat the symptoms. Cannabis activates the endocannabinoid system and flushes it with phytocannabinoids, giving it a boost in performance.
As a result, the endocannabinoid system identifies areas that are “off” and service them first to bring them to balance. This may express itself in the physical, mental or even spiritual plane of existence. All of which is meant to bring the whole organism into balance.
It’s pretty insane when you think about how complex it all is.
Great introspection!
Neurodiverseibre said,
I get real introspective with a real good high. But it's hardly ever comfortable. It's usually when I feel like I've had too much and my mind starts to race. But if I just sit with it I'm able to understand a different perspective about myself that I don't like, that I wish to change, and I get ideas how to improve myself. It no longer feels uncomfortable and I feel a sense of relief. So, in a sense, I feel like a better person today because cannabis has given me that insight.
One of the key features of cannabis is that it provides additional introspection. It allows those “softer voices” more space to occupy the mind. However, this also doesn’t make you immune to the bad thoughts, especially if you’ve been entertaining them for years.
I hate to break it to you, but there is no real magic pill, but as Neurodiverseibre said, it can help with introspection. If you use cannabis in this manner, you’ll definitely will “become a better person”.
I mean, you can do that without cannabis as well, but cannabis is definitely an aide in the process.
Sticky bottom line
At the end of the day, there’s many different ways that cannabis has helped millions of people. Even “recreational cannabis” is a means of letting off bad stress, relaxing, and enjoying life. We’re often so caught up in the Rush of it all that we forget to stop and smell the flowers.
Having read all of these responses, I’m curious – How has cannabis helped you?
CANNABIS CHANGING LIVES, READ MORE..
